Brief Description Of The Present Invention
The present invention provides a useful fishing accessory which can be used at times as a paddle for providing locomotion to a small boat, and which can be used at other times to net a fish which has been hooked and which is to be landed or boated after having been scooped into the net.
Broadly described, the paddle-fish landing net combination of the invention includes a hollow, generally paddle-shaped housing which is truncated at its upper side at the location where the handle of the paddle would normally extend from the described housing. The housing has a handle opening at this truncated upper side where there is a neck located which defines such opening. The housing is also provided with an opening at its opposite side through which a fish net can be moved outwardly to an open, fish netting status at certain times when the net is to be used for landing a fish. A pair of guide elements are secured to the inside of the housing and these function to guide an elongated handle which has an end portion slidingly mounted in the hollow housing. The handle also carries a hand grip on the end of the handle located outside this housing. At the inner end of the handle located within the housing, a fishing net is secured to such inner end and moves with the handle at such times as the handle is slidingly reciprocated through the handle opening in the housing. As the handle is reciprocated to move it further into the hollow housing, the effect is to push the fish net out through the opening at the opposite side of the housing, allowing the fish net to spring to its opened position. The net opens as a resilient hoop to which one side of a flexible net web is attached, and springs out into an oval or circular configuration. At this time, the handle has been pushed a substantial distance into the hollow housing, but still projects sufficiently to permit a user of the device to grip the hand grip at the outer end of the handle, and use this to maneuver the net for purposes of landing a fish which has been hooked after a strike and brought alongside a boat.
The opening through which the net is pushed as the handle is reciprocated is of a size such that the resilient hoop to which the net is attached must be substantially constricted in order to pass through this opening as the net is brought back into the hollow housing for storage at a time when the device is to be used as a boat paddle.
Moreover, the size of the net opening into the housing is such that when the net is partially retracted into the housing, the effect is that the resilient hoop to which one side of the net is attached is substantially closed, thus making it unlikely that the fish can jump out of the net, or be lost therefrom during retrieve.
It is an important object of the present invention to provide a combination paddle and fish net structure which has great utility for use in fishing from a boat, both in providing manual locomotion for the boat at times when such is needed, and in providing a useful and functional fish net which can be used to land and boat a fish which has been caught following a strike.
Another object of the invention is to provide an easily used, lightweight structure which can function quite well either as a boat paddle, or as a fish landing net in another phase of the fishing activity.
A further object of the invention is to provide a combination fish net and paddle which is sufficiently rugged and sturdy in construction that it can be used for both the function of paddling a boat, and the function of landing a fish by use of the net, and can be so used over an extended period of time without mechanical malfunction or failure to perform the described functions efficiently.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following detailed description of the invention is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention.